On a Trial Basis
by hp-whovian
Summary: Lily finally agrees to go out with James? The catch: it is on a trial basis only! Nothing serious WHAT SO EVER until Lily says different. *No wormtail in this story. I don't know how to write him and I don't like him*
1. Chapter 1: Head Students

Chapter One- Head Students

It was nearly time. Time to board the Hogwarts Express. It was Lily Evans' seventh year and she was determined to make it the best. As she boarded, Lily kept thinking about how good this year had already turned out to be, and school hadn't even started yet. First of all, she had been made Hogwarts new head girl. She had been working towards this her entire Hogwarts career.

Not to mention the different possibilities for head boy. There was Remus Lupin. He had been her fellow Gryffindor prefect; Lily was partially convinced it had to be Remus. However, if it weren't, there was always Ben Garret, a kind, smart and not all together bad looking Ravenclaw. There was also Daniel Smith, the quiet but very nice Hufflepuff. Any of the three would be excellent choices and Lily was confident whoever Dumbledore chose would make a great head boy.

"Lily!" A voice called suddenly from behind her. Lily turned to see her best friend Alyssa Jones rushing towards her.

"Alyssa!" Lily cried excitably as she was engulfed in a hug.

"I've missed you SO much Lily!" Alyssa said in a shrill voice, "but enough of that, we really need to find a compartment."

And before Lily had time to think, she and her belongings were being dragged onto the train and into the first empty compartment they found. Once they were settled, Alyssa began rattling off once more.

"You got head girl, right?" Lily nodded, "I knew it! I just knew it! Do you know who the head boy is?"

"No, but I should find out soon. We have to meet with the prefects and explain everything to them."

"Hopefully he's someone good looking. You don't want to be sharing a common room and everything with someone ugly," Alyssa said.

"Or annoying," Lily added. Just then, she felt the train lurch into motion. "I think I'm supposed to go meet him now actually, before the prefects show up."

"Alright, I've got my fingers crossed!" Lily giggled as she left the compartment and made her way down to the front of the train to meet the head boy and prefects.

Lily was the first one to arrive in the compartment and spent the next several minutes sitting in silence. Finally, she heard the compartment door slide open. She looked up and saw Remus Lupin standing in the doorway.

"Remus!" Lily shouted, jumping up and hugging him briefly, "I just knew it had to be you! I knew it! I knew it!"

"It's great to see you too, Lily," he grinned, "Knew what, exactly?"

"That you'd be head boy, of course!"

"Umm, I'm not though…" Lupin said.

"What?"

"I was coming in here to tell you that the actual head boy was running just a little late and will be here in a few minutes."

"Who is he?" Lily asked eagerly.

Before Lupin could answer, he was interrupted by a loud voice Lily knew all too well. A voice that belonged to the most annoying prat she had met in her entire life.

"Oi, Evans!" Shouted James Potter happily.

"Potter, you have no business being in here!" Lily shot at him.

"What? Of course I do. I'm head boy, after all," James said, smirking at Lily.

"You lying prat, there is no way Dumbledore would make _you_ head boy!"

"Lily, he really is head boy," said Lupin quietly as James reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his shiny new head boy badge.

"It was a shock to me too; I thought Padfoot must have switched my letter with Moony's." James explained with a laugh.

"What on _Earth_ was Dumbledore thinking? Not only are you completely and totally irresponsible, it's common knowledge that we hate each other! This will never work!"

"Sure it will, even Dumbledore knows we're made for each other," James said, taking a seat in the compartment.

At this moment, however, they interrupted by the first few prefects arriving . Remus waved goodbye to his two friends and left. Lily put on a smile and greeted the prefects. Once all of the prefects were in the compartment, it was time for them to begin. Lily did all of the talking and didn't so much as look at James. Just as they were about to finish James stood and began speaking, cutting across the conclusion Lily was just making with his own.

"Remember, you can set a good example without being boring like Evans here. Stick with your duties and the rest is a piece of cake. Alright? Now, out with ya," James ended with a smirk at Lily who stared back incredulously.

When the last prefect had left the compartment, Lily slide the door shut again before James had the chance to get out.

"Let's get something strait here Potter, just because we're head students together doesn't mean we're friends. You have responsibilities and if you slip up in the least I will go straight to Dumbledore and report you. Is that clear?" Lily said acidly.

"Evans, I must remind you that you are not above me," Said James, remaining surprisingly calm, "We are both head students and are equals. I like you; you don't like me, as always. I get it."

James left the compartment dejectedly and went to sit with the other Marauders. Lily, still fuming, returned to the compartment where she had left Alyssa, who had been joined by their other friend Alice Brown.

"You are never going to believe this!" Lily shouted as she entered the compartment, "Dumbledore made James Bloody Potter head boy!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Alyssa said.

"That's outrageous!" Alice agreed.

"I know! Dumbledore has finally lost his marbles! Why wouldn't he choose Lupin or Garret or Smith or anyone else in the school, really?" Lily's rant went on and on for what seemed like hours. No matter what Alice and Alyssa tried to bring up, it always seemed to lead back to Potter.

It seemed to take ages for the Hogwarts Express to reach its destination, but when it finally did Lily could only groan with disappointment. All of her hopes for the best year ever were gone, replaced by what was, in Lily's opinion, impending doom. The only thing James ever managed to bring to Lily was misery and anger. Now she had to spend the entire year with him.

The three girls hurried off the train so they could get a carriage to themselves, and were successful. Alice was also able to lead their first conversation that didn't involve James Potter in hours.

At long last, they reached the castle. Lily stepped out and smiled. She was finally home.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Leaf

Chapter Two- A New Leaf

The feast proved to be as delicious as always. This meant that Lily's mood had improved greatly since the heads' meeting. After the feast, Lily set out for the heads' common room. Her Hogwarts letter had described the location to her and she had no trouble finding it. On the seventh floor there was a painting depicting Hogwarts' first head boy and girl. She gave them the password and the tapestry swung open revealing a doorway.

Lily walked through the door and gasped. The common room was fairly large for two people and was covered in the red and gold of Gryffindor. There was a couch and two chairs in front of a large marble fireplace. Two desks were pushed against the opposite wall along alongside shelves stuffed with books. Directly across from the entrance, there were two doors. The door on the left had James written across it in blocky red letters, while the one on the right said Lily in gold cursive.

Lily pushed her door open and was awed. Her favorite color was light blue and that was the color the room was decorated in. There was a large canopy bed with matching blue bedspread and hangings to match the curtains on the windows. The floor was covered in an enormous blue rug as well. Next to the door was another desk, enabling her to work privately. Opposite the door was a large wardrobe, already containing her clothes. There was also a door leading into her own private bathroom.

Lily heard the entrance reopen in the common room, followed by James' footsteps. She sighed, but grudgingly re-entered the common room to see James staring around the room in complete awe. He looked at her and smiled, seeming to have forgotten what had happened on the train.

"Can you believe this place, Evans?" James said, still trying to absorb what he was seeing.

"I know, it's amazing," Lily agreed.

James fixed his eyes directly on Lily, "Look, Evans, I really don't want to spend this year fighting. And I know we haven't started out well, but I really want to try to get along. Maybe even be friends."

"I'm willing to try," Lily said uncertainly, "I'm sorry about what happened on the train."

James smiled at this, and then walked into his room. He stopped briefly in the doorway, clearly as awed as Lily was by her own room, before he stepped all the way in and shut the door behind him.

Now that her head was clear, Lily couldn't deny that she had been out of line on the train. She also couldn't help but notice his muscles had become more toned over the summer. "No," Lily thought to herself. She couldn't be thinking of James Potter like that. It just didn't compute.

It had been a long day and Lily was exhausted. She went back into her room and got ready for bed. Just as she was about to crawl into bed, Lily caught a glimpse outsideher window. She stopped and gasped. It was the absolute most beautiful site she had ever seen. The bright moon was just beginning to shrink from full and shimmered off the black lake. The mountains rose up beyond the lake, contrasting from the bright stars.

As captivating as the view was, Lily couldn't ignore how tired she felt. She crawled under her fresh blue blankets and sighed as she fell back onto the amazingly soft pillows. Almost instantly, she was asleep. All too soon, however, she was awaking for her first day of classes. She groaned as the sunlight shown through the curtains on her face.

Slowly but surely, Lily dragged herself out of bed and into her bathroom to get ready. Once she had showered, done her hair and makeup, and dressed in her Hogwarts robes, Lily left her room with her bag slung over her shoulder. As she walked through the common room she noticed James' door was ajar. She stopped to try to catch a glimpse inside, but looked away quickly when she saw James still in his room, shirtless.

Lily walked out and away from the common room quickly, trying to get that brief glimpse of James' naked torso out of her head. She knew he'd bulked up a decent amount over the summer, but surely she must have imagined how attractive those new muscles were. Maybe it was a trick of the light in that particular second. Lily knew one thing, James Potter could _not_ be that attractive. He just couldn't be.

When Lily reached the Great Hall for breakfast, she found Alice and Alyssa at the Gryffindor table and sat down.

"So how was last night with James?" Alyssa asked with a giggle.

"It was alright, actually," Lily answered, "I think the amazing living space helped as well."

"So tell us about it," Alice egged her on.

Lily launched into a full on description of the whole space, and Alice and Alyssa held on to every last word. None of them noticed as the Marauders entered the Great Hall. Of course there was James, as well as Remus. They also had another friend, Sirius Black. Black was a seventh year too, as well as the most well-known player in the history of Hogwarts.

"Evans!" Sirius shouted once he was right behind Lily, startling her.

"Black! What do you want?" Lily asked, thoroughly annoyed.

"I just wanted to know how it was living with James," he said in a mock innocent voice, "Must be like marriage."

"Oh shut up, Black," Lily said, but she couldn't keep the image of shirtless James from flitting through her mind.

"Padfoot, leave Evans alone," James said in a testy voice.

"What's the matter, Prongs? Don't want her to know you two are as good as married?" Sirius asked, pushing it still further.

"Padfoot!" Remus said, grabbing him by the arm and steering him away from the girls. James gave them a nervous wave before walking away.

Professor McGonagall was making her way down Gryffindor table handing out schedules and now reached the three girls before they could say any more.

"Good morning, Professor," Lily said politely.

"Good morning, Miss Evans. I trust everything was alright with your common room last night?" Asked Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, Professor, it's wonderful," Lily said, as McGonagall handed her schedule to her.

"Great," she said with a slight smile as she handed Alice and Alyssa their schedules and proceeded down the table to where the Marauders sat. Lily watched them and couldn't help but laugh at the scowl she gave Black.

As Lily left the Great Hall, she caught her first glimpse of an old friend, Severus Snape. He walked alone, but she now felt no sympathy. He had surrendered her friendship for his Death Eater pals. He had called her that word.

Her first class of the day was Ancient Runes. As she walked along, she heard a voice calling behind her. Lily turned and saw Remus. She smiled as he caught up; she'd anticipated having the class with him.

"I expect you're heading for Runes?" Remus asked as they began walking together.

"Yes I am," Lily smiled.

"Thought so," He smiled, "So I heard you and James made up?"

"Yes we did."

"Listen, Lily, James is trying to turn over a new leaf this year," Remus explained, "I've been trying to stay out of things between you and James, but I think it'd be great if you could give him a chance."

Lily and Remus reached class just in time for it to begin. They didn't speak on the subject again, but it certainly didn't leave Lily's mind. Could James have really changed? Lily trusted Remus and took him very seriously. If he said James was turning over a new leaf than it must be true.

After supper that night, Lily returned directly to the head's common room. For the first time since her first year, Lily didn't have homework on the first day. She was determined to use this time to relax, because who knew when she'd get another chance. James wasn't back yet and this left Lily even more time to think of what Remus had said.

She curled up in one of the arm chairs by the fire and stared into it. Remus' words kept ringing in her head. She didn't even know why this was such a big deal to her. It was just James after all. He shouldn't matter to her at all at this point. They'd made up for what had happened yesterday, which meant that unless she caught him breaking the rules he shouldn't matter to her.

"Hey," Lily jumped and whipped around in her chair to see James standing in the doorway.

"Oh, um, hi," She said exasperatedly.

"Something wrong?" He asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"No, of course not."

"Alright, if you're sure. Good first day?" James asked.

"Yeah, you?" Lily asked back warily. She was finding it easier and easier to believe Remus by the moment.

"It was alright. Listen, I'm really sorry about Padfoot this morning. He was just…Padfoot," James sighed.

"Oh, um, it's alright," Lily said awkwardly.

"Really?" James was shocked.

"Yeah, I suppose I can't really blame you for what your friend does," Lily said.

"Well, thanks," James said, "I should probably go do some homework though."

"You have homework?" Lily asked, slightly taken aback.

"Yeah, just a couple things."

"And you're doing it tonight?" Lily asked, even more surprised.

"Well one of them _is_ due tomorrow," James said, "But besides that, it's a new thing I'm trying to start."

"Oh, alright," Lily said, remembering once again what Remus had said.

"Yep, so goodnight," James said before disappearing into his room.

Lily went into her room shortly after James went into his.


End file.
